Open Access Monographs
Publishing your book open access enables unrestricted access and distribution to anyone interested in your research.
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Open Access Monograph publishing
Open Access publishing removes the need for purchasing or borrowing copies. It facilitates a diverse and increased readership, enabling impact and public engagement.
Funders such as and the have open access policies for monographs. The next REF open access policy is likely to include an open access monographs requirement. See Funder Open Access for more.
The University is keen to support authors to make their monographs open access and meet funder requirements. Support for Open Access has advice for authors considering publishing their monograph open access.
Library commitment to open access monographs
We embrace the transformative power of Open Access (OA) monographs in academia to enable worldwide collaboration, knowledge sharing, and research progress.
Our Principles
Cost
We aim to avoid costly Book Processing Charges (BPC). We support OA monograph business models which are:
- sustainable
- equitable
- cost-effective.
Equitable Access
We champion universal access to knowledge, removing geographical and financial barriers. OA monographs embody this by providing unrestricted global access to scholarly content.
Academic Excellence
Our commitment to academic excellence fosters:
- rigorous research
- collaboration
- innovation.
We advocate for diverse, quality-driven scholarship through OA monographs. This encourages interdisciplinary cooperation and wider scholarly engagement.
Transparency and Accountability
By openly sharing research outputs, we contribute to a transparent research environment that encourages:
- peer review
- accountability
- collaboration
- public engagement.
Our Commitment
Advocacy and Education
We're committed to advocating for OA monographs within our academic community.
Content Development
We'll financially support sustainable OA monograph initiatives and publishing formats.
Collection Enrichment
Our library actively curates and boosts the visibility of OA monographs. We ensure they are accessible to researchers and students.
Author Support
We provide extensive support to authors aiming to publish Open Access monographs.
Advocating for Change
We drive sustainable OA monograph publishing models through collaboration with:
- publishers
- academic institutions
- policymakers.
Community Collaboration
We actively engage with:
- academic libraries
- consortia
- publishers
- stakeholders.
We exchange:
- best practices
- insights
- resources.
How º£½ÇÂÒÂ× is supporting open access monographs
The Library is providing financial support to these collective support initiatives:
These schemes offer equitable and sustainable business models. They allow authors to publish without the payment of a fee. They align with our teaching and research strategy.
We're keen to provide publishing opportunities for early career researchers at º£½ÇÂÒÂ×. We're having conversations with libraries and progressive publishers to develop alternative OA monograph publishing models. We'd like to have conversations with other organisations committed to developing new open access monograph publishing models.
Here are some examples of open access monographs we've supported through our institutional open access fund. For more information, or to arrange a conversation, contact library-research@salford.ac.uk.
Trailblazers
Trailblazers is an open access initiative providing early career researchers with the support and open access funding to publish their first monograph. It's a joint project between the publisher and the Universities of:
- º£½ÇÂÒÂ×
- Liverpool
- Lancaster
- Liverpool John Moores
- Reading
- Wolverhampton
LUP publish a wide range of subjects in arts, humanities and social sciences, as well the acclaimed Pavilion Poetry series and are the official publisher of The British Academy.
Trailblazers is delivered on an annual basis, with a new cohort recruited each year. If you are interested in learning more about the scheme email library-research@º£½ÇÂÒÂ×.ac.uk
Trailblazers open access books:
- Go through the same strict editing and peer review as other books
- Are sold as print copies
- Earn royalties for authors
Selected authors receive:
- Support from senior editors at Liverpool University Press
- Professional copy-editing, typesetting, and marketing for their publication
- Masterclasses to support every stage of the publishing process
- Open access funding
Trailblazer books coming soon from º£½ÇÂÒÂ× authors
- A degree of modernism: the building and buildings of the º£½ÇÂÒÂ×, 1954-1976 by Simon James Hadfield
- Rewriting the Irish mother figure: dismantling stereotypes of motherhood and maternity in contemporary Irish literature by Katie Barnes
- Invalidated grief: exploring responses to loss at the intersection of intellectual disability and minoritised identities by Patience Udonsi
- Deconstructing the Poverty Industry by David Beck
- Playing Together: Interacting with the non-human through video games by Charlotte Gislam